The 2021 Burning Man Bar is open

[Popeye]

So why is it I'm fine to walk or bike all around BRC on a cool 95 F day on the playa, but now on a 95 F 22 % RH day at home, walking to the corner store and back feels like I'm going die...

Maybe the humidity? Your sweat evaporates faster on playa. Maybe the distractions?

[Canoe]

So why is it I'm fine to walk or bike all around BRC on a cool 95 F day on the playa, but now on a 95 F 22 % RH day at home, walking to the corner store and back feels like I'm going die...

Maybe the humidity? Your sweat evaporates faster on playa. Maybe the distractions?

My best guess was I'm a wuss, except where BRC is distracting me.

[^Rhino!]

To canoe, burner von braun, and lucky 420:

Thanks, all for your support. It means a great deal in these trying times. I'm basically on 24-7 lockdown with COVID-19, being in a high-risk group where some really bad shit is likely to happen to me if I'm exposed. With the death of my Mom in April and the surgery I had last week, you might think that I'm having a hard time staying afloat and mentally sane. Wrong. TTID taught me the value of my fertile imagination,my immense library of books (over 2000 at last count not including periodicals), and the value and love behind the phrase "I will survive".

Come closer around the potbellied stove sos I can tell you a story of love and hope.

I got diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2007. With my high-risk high-impact lifestyle I moped at first, thinking the quality of my life was kaput. Luckily, I was born with a curiosity in needing to know the answers to the questions confronting me in school and in life. And I saw the movie the Replacements. By the time Burningman came about in 2008, I had lost 50 pounds and turned my life and habits around.

In the film, pro football has had a player strike and walkout during the season. The fictitious Washington Sentinels bring in a new coach (played by Gene Hackman) who puts together a team of misfits and also-ran types in the hopes of reaching the playoffs. After losing a game, they're met at a local bar by the striking payers, who get mouthy. a knockdown dragout bar fight ensues, and the replacement players are hauled off to jail. In jail a conversation ensues, and as the coach comes to bail them out he finds the entire team dancing the electric slide to the tune of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive". Critical to the team is the recognition that they have become a team, led by the quarterback Shane Falco (played by Keanu Reeves). In the end, the team makes the playoffs and succeeds.

2008 saw me attending Burningman for the first time. I thrived, and even was asked back by Gothalot, my first camp director, Gothalot in 2009 put me in charge of the camp LNT effort in my second year. I was give two women to wprk with. They were grumbling about getting back to Reno for their plane flight back to Germany on time. I told them the story of the replacements and how if we came together as a team, we could get the job done faster than the three hours they were estimating and moaning about. They wanted it done in an hour. WE got it done in 20 minutes. They hopped in their rented RV, and after tears were shed and good-byes tendered they drove off. I went to my truck, Planet Earth disco still had a sound system up. And then I heard Gloria Gaynor's song "I Will Survive".

My reaction was the only appropriate one. Before driving away all alone I deanced the electric slide in the dust of the Black Rock playa.

The location and event still awe me to this day as a place of magic.

I will survive.

[Savannah]

My reaction was the only appropriate one. Before driving away all alone I deanced the electric slide in the dust of the Black Rock playa.

The location and event still awe me to this day as a place of magic.

I will survive.

Love it!

So glad you're doing well. Pet Katy for me! I so love cats.


. . . I'm personally surfacing after the worst part of my job, annually speaking. June and July are always chaos, and while I am grateful as HELL that I can work from home (ugh! . . . SO grateful) . . . It's been really hard to run the things I need to run at a distance. I worry that if I can't be perfect and seamless in the middle of this ridiculousness, budget cuts will take me out. (And with it, my health insurance, yikes). So today I literally walked 5.5 miles to sneak into my office after 5pm to complete a few things. I hadn't been in for 4 months, and there were a few weird, straggling things that couldn't wait. My boss didn't want me to, but I had a lot of good reasons.

Then I walked 3 miles back and my feet got sad, so I caved after that and caught my first bus in 4 months the rest of the way. It was eerie.

[^Rhino!]

I promise to pet Katy for you!

And just like me, there's even MORE to this wonderful story that serves as a testament to my commitment to burning bright each and every day.

It started with a geology field camp in 1986. Our itinerary led us to the Grand Canyon, where we camped in the inner canyon at Phantom Ranch. I've always been into the history of places and I learned the story of John Wesley Powell. Powell is widely revered as the 'father of the USGS', as the first man who recognized the need for water out west, and as the first white man to traverse the Colorado River through the canyon. This was all after the Civil War, where Powell had lost an arm at The battle of Shiloh (April 1862). Imagine going down the raging torrents of the river in a WOODEN rowboat, before Glen Canyon dam was constructed. Powell obviously had big brass ones that clanked when he walked.

In any case, as a geologist-historian, I've been all over the US in search of his historical imprint. I visited Shiloh one cold Christmas Day, and heard the voices of the ghosts who fought on that hallowed ground near 'bloody pond'. I found the location of Powell's battery at Vicksburg (May-July 1864) I went to Cape Girardeau and examined Fort 'D' which Powell designed. Finally, we can fast forward to my travel to Burningman in 2010. On the way there, I spotted a burner in need of help and stopped to aid them. It turned out they were with Planet Earth disco (see previous post). They were headed there from Des Moines, Iowa. The driver had stage 4 lung cancer and was going to BRC 'for the last time'. It hit me pretty hard at that point, feeling helpless when I wanted to help him. I got as far as Green River, Wyoming.

I was ready to turn around and head for home. Instead, I got out at the city park there to walk around and clear my head. There, I ran my hands over a granite marker which commemorated Powell's trip down the Colorado a hundred years earlier. It reminded me that Powell never quit, despite the odds.

" I will survive"
"If success is possible, never quit despite the odds."

Lessons from BRC that I carry tp this day.

[ygmir]

*rides in out of the smoke on War Rabbit*
HI gang.
It's smokey here, we have a wildfire that broke out yesterday, and with the 105 degree heat, single digit humidity and high erratic winds, everyone is on edge. the outskirts of both towns here have been evacuated, probably under an over abundance of caution, remembering the Paradise fire of not so long ago. I have pre-populated a stack of boxes in case I need to "bug out", but am not in the evacuation zone and feel like I'm far enough away to not be in any immediate danger.
Seems 2020 has many tricks up it's sleeve! What, could be next? (insert maniacal chuckle).
*sets out drinks on bar, and whiskey and a cigar in dark corner booth*
*heads for ROS*

[lucky420]

Stay safe Ygmir, I hope all your feathered and fur friends make it through this too

[ygmir]

Stay safe Ygmir, I hope all your feathered and fur friends make it through this too

thanks Lucky

[Ballpark]

*rides in out of the smoke on War Rabbit*


I hope you stay safe..

This sounds like a perfect opportunity to evacuate to the playa for burn week. The event might not be dead after all.

Good luck.

[ygmir]

*rides in out of the smoke on War Rabbit*


I hope you stay safe..

This sounds like a perfect opportunity to evacuate to the playa for burn week. The event might not be dead after all.

Good luck.

ha, yeah, thanks! I went only for my work, and friends.....I don't especially like the hot dry playa without them, in August. I'm sure others will head out, though.

[burner von braun]

Are they having any luck getting the wildfire tamped down ygmir? It sounds like you guys out west are getting some severe weather conditions, and quite a number of fires caused by lightning. Glad you have your 'bugout' bag and supplies at the ready. Hmm, why am I not surprised by that, haha!

Like many, I would be on the road to the desert about now. I've always enjoyed the cross-country drive; it was beginning to be a sort of ritual. I'll especially miss getting to meet up with burner friends this year, including some of you crazy fine eplayans. Not sure if I'll spend much time in the virtual version. I spent too many years doing somewhat similar work for a living, and I'm still kind of burnt out on it. But yay! for those of you involved in making that a thing this year!

[ygmir]

HI BVB.
The local fire is coming under control, some of the evacuations have been lifted.
We've had a couple of the "usual" fires break out, but our wonderful firefighters are getting on them fast and seem to get them under control in short order. So far, at least...
Yeah, we had a very active though small weather system go through the region several days ago, with lots of lightening and very little rain, so it sparked many many fires. Also, a lightening strike can smolder for days before breaking out into active flames, so those are popping up, too.

Yeah, I bet it's a big change for you, and many others, not having that pilgrimage to TTITD. I'd imagine the trip out and back is a big part of the whole experience, and fun in it's own right.
I seriously doubt I'll try the virtual burn, I don't think my internet speed is good enough, and I don't know how to do a virtual thing.

I do hope everyone who needs or wants it, gets some sort of "TTITD fix", however they can.

[unjonharley]

HI BVB.
The local fire is coming under control, some of the evacuations have been lifted.
We've had a couple of the "usual" fires break out, but our wonderful firefighters are getting on them fast and seem to get them under control in short order. So far, at least...
Yeah, we had a very active though small weather system go through the region several days ago, with lots of lightening and very little rain, so it sparked many many fires. Also, a lightening strike can smolder for days before breaking out into active flames, so those are popping up, too.

Yeah, I bet it's a big change for you, and many others, not having that pilgrimage to TTITD. I'd imagine the trip out and back is a big part of the whole experience, and fun in it's own right.
I seriously doubt I'll try the virtual burn, I don't think my internet speed is good enough, and I don't know how to do a virtual thing.

I do hope everyone who needs or wants it, gets some sort of "TTITD fix", however they can.

Stay safe from the fires .. Thinking 2021 for TTITD .. Have a Art bike in the works.. GIVE ME THE THEAM BOYS SAVE MY SOUL .. WANNA GET LOST IN SOME ROCK AND ROLL .. AND DRIFT AWAY TO THE TRASH FENCE ..

[ygmir]

HI BVB.
The local fire is coming under control, some of the evacuations have been lifted.
We've had a couple of the "usual" fires break out, but our wonderful firefighters are getting on them fast and seem to get them under control in short order. So far, at least...
Yeah, we had a very active though small weather system go through the region several days ago, with lots of lightening and very little rain, so it sparked many many fires. Also, a lightening strike can smolder for days before breaking out into active flames, so those are popping up, too.

Yeah, I bet it's a big change for you, and many others, not having that pilgrimage to TTITD. I'd imagine the trip out and back is a big part of the whole experience, and fun in it's own right.
I seriously doubt I'll try the virtual burn, I don't think my internet speed is good enough, and I don't know how to do a virtual thing.

I do hope everyone who needs or wants it, gets some sort of "TTITD fix", however they can.

Stay safe from the fires .. Thinking 2021 for TTITD .. Have a Art bike in the works.. GIVE ME THE THEAM BOYS SAVE MY SOUL .. WANNA GET LOST IN SOME ROCK AND ROLL .. AND DRIFT AWAY TO THE TRASH FENCE ..

Daft Punk will be playing there...

[Captain Goddammit]

GIVE ME THE THEAM BOYS SAVE MY SOUL .. WANNA GET LOST IN SOME ROCK AND ROLL .. AND DRIFT AWAY TO THE TRASH FENCE ..

Uh oh look out, now he’s Dobie Extra-Gray

[^Rhino!]

Good one, Cap'n! I'm more or less stuck here at home in self-enforced isolation as I recuperate from my two surgeries this summer. The first was for AAA, or abdominal aortic aneurysm; then I got 3 more stents for my leg veins. Painful, but I'm healing up now. The worst pain was between the two surgeries - I was taking up to 8 ibuprofens every 4 hours just to cope. No longer, and I'm feeling MUCH better. I love all you crazy people, and hope to interact with you at TTITD 2021!

[gaminwench]

Hey, y'all.

I hope evreyone is dealing with isolation as best and not going stir crazy (ya, right!)
And California, HOLY CRAP, be safe! (I left just in time, it seems)

So, we're running Talk to God Virtual (which is NOT at all about religion; it's a place where folx either snark or bare their soul: caller's choice) on Zoom during event week.

It is a place to participate and connect.

It occurred to me tonight that it could be awesome if the crusty eplayans (this means YOU) ran a shift or two. Kind of like the Arctica shifts ...

There will be (at least) four on a shift, and there's a backchannel 'walkie-talkie' on Discord for the shift team to chat 'backstage'. Each shift will need at least two God)(desses to receive calls (maybe one snarky and the other compassionate?) and two Angels (one who is a greeter and one[introvert?] to push buttons and move folks around in the installation). The team could rotate through or each claim a spot; each shift will decide how they want to play.

It's super easy to do, once you've gone through the tech training, and I don't think it needs high speed anything, just a computer (mine is 2007mac, and I've got rural Georgia internet; it all works fine for me).

It's a fun way to participate and connect in real time, without having to learn one of the gaming platforms all the kids are using these days.

Pop into the FB group: Talk to God Virtual, 2020 and see if it might be something to bring us together in the *not* dust.

Hugs and whiskey (and moonshine WOOT!!)
jayeYAY!!!

[^Rhino!]

REWRITE, CORRECTED:

Thanks for the info, gaminwench. Unfortunately, I'll have to pass rthis tie out since I'm taking a class this fall in Systematic Paleontology. I checked out the syllabus, and it's stuff I haven't seen in 30 years when I took Invertebrate Paleontology in undergrad school. It's sorta funny because the professor is a friend of mine who I respect highly and i want to hear her viewpoint on the advances made since 1981 when I last took a similar class. One new area which I know pretty well having covered element of it in grad school is ichnology, the study of trace fossils, but I'm sure I know only about 60% of what she'll cover. The prof is a Cambridge (UK) PhD so she's super competent and this is her major area of specialization. She studies fossil pollen (palynology) which I know virtually nothing about, so that will be a plus for the course.
I'm also giving a lecture this fall on the origins of American military intelligence during the US Civil War (yep, it goes back that far). The first signal codebreaking was done from semaphore stations (by both Confederates and Federals); and the first aerial reconnaissance was performed from hot-air balloons (the concept of aerial photography can be traced back to an inventive young Army lieutenant at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis). Plus, there were spies on both sides. Blacks risked their lives to travel across to Union lines and back with intelligence, so good that even one of Jefferson Davis' servants was able to pass intelligence of the highest level back to General Grant. Newspapers from both sides were used for intelligence. General Grant normally had the daily Richmond paper delivered to him before dinner every day. Black troops, superior engineering, and superior intelligence were the reasons the Union won the war in 4 years. But, I digress...and at length so I apologize for it
Yggy, my heavy-duty prayers and juju go your way. Stay safe, bro. Drop me a line here if you need assistance. Same goes to any of my California/Utah/Arizona/New Mexico/Nevada buds and bud-ettes. I'm retired now, so there's not a whole lot of stuff to drop.

[^Rhino!]

REWRITE, CORRECTED:

Thanks for the info, gaminwench. Unfortunately, I'll have to pass rthis tie out since I'm taking a class this fall in Systematic Paleontology. I checked out the syllabus, and it's stuff I haven't seen in 30 years when I took Invertebrate Paleontology in undergrad school. It's sorta funny because the professor is a friend of mine who I respect highly and i want to hear her viewpoint on the advances made since 1981 when I last took a similar class. One new area which I know pretty well having covered element of it in grad school is ichnology, the study of trace fossils, but I'm sure I know only about 60% of what she'll cover. The prof is a Cambridge (UK) PhD so she's super competent and this is her major area of specialization. She studies fossil pollen (palynology) which I know virtually nothing about, so that will be a plus for the course.
I'm also giving a lecture this fall on the origins of American military intelligence during the US Civil War (yep, it goes back that far). The first signal codebreaking was done from semaphore stations (by both Confederates and Federals); and the first aerial reconnaissance was performed from hot-air balloons (the concept of aerial photography can be traced back to an inventive young Army lieutenant at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis). Plus, there were spies on both sides. Blacks risked their lives to travel across to Union lines and back with intelligence, so good that even one of Jefferson Davis' servants was able to pass intelligence of the highest level back to General Grant. Newspapers from both sides were used for intelligence. General Grant normally had the daily Richmond paper delivered to him before dinner every day. Black troops, superior engineering, and superior intelligence were the reasons the Union won the war in 4 years. But, I digress...and at length so I apologize for it
Yggy, my heavy-duty prayers and juju go your way. Stay safe, bro. Drop me a line here if you need assistance. Same goes to any of my California/Utah/Arizona/New Mexico/Nevada buds and bud-ettes. I'm retired now, so there's not a whole lot of stuff to drop.

[FIGJAM]

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[lucky420]

pb200902.gif

So looking forward to October, for real

[^Rhino!]

I am SO looking forward to a coronavirus vaccine, I've been tested twice so far ( both negative, and required for surgery at the hospital). I want to get outside and jump and run and play with all the other kids my age................

[unjonharley]

I'll just back here in a booth and waatch you sokes burnout .. It's real weird, being the same age as old people .. My best friend Rustyfur cat had an eyeball removed last week .. Blackberry thorn .. Eye sergury for me next week.. Some work from 25 years ago needs repaired ..

[^Rhino!]

Much healing mojo/juju sent your way, ygmir! I sincerely hope your pain level is far less than mine upon completion. Please stay safe, no matter what. The community needs you and loves you!

[tatonka]

https://scontent.fhio2-2.fna.fbcdn.net/ ... e=5F7F5678

[Captain Goddammit]

Ygmir, the hot dry playa was a lot more tolerable at Marty’s Margaritaville bar!!
I left camp with a now-somewhat-famous friend on his art car on a random cruise-about and randomly found Marty and his bar.
And as is appropriate in such a situation, I returned hours later, somewhat trashed.
It was awesome. He’s got a photo I believe.
I carved my name in the bar.

[ygmir]

Ygmir, the hot dry playa was a lot more tolerable at Marty’s Margaritaville bar!!
I left camp with a now-somewhat-famous friend on his art car on a random cruise-about and randomly found Marty and his bar.
And as is appropriate in such a situation, I returned hours later, somewhat trashed.
It was awesome. He’s got a photo I believe.
I carved my name in the bar.

hay Cap'n!
yeah, I saw the photo, so there is proof! sounds like fun out there!
I was working on my Hof, pushing to get the rock work done for good, this year. Hoping a few more work days.
Marty built that whole bar/toy hauler just for last week, and really enjoys entertaining people there, so I'm sure he was super happy to have guests!

[ygmir]

*rides in on War Rabbitt*
*set out drinks, takes whiskey and cigar to dark corner booth and sets them up*
*heads for ROS to see if it's true*

[lucky420]

Watcha talkin bout Willis?

[ygmir]

Watcha talkin bout Willis?

there was a particular bar (original) patron, who sat in that dark corner booth smoking cigars and sipping whiskey, often with Risky.
Just seein if it's him or not.